Interview: As Slaughter Continues, Shark Defender Takes on Fin Trade

As Asian economies have boomed in the last two decades, demand for sharks fins — a prized delicacy — has soared, leading to severe overfishing of many shark species. As many as 70 million sharks are killed annually, a toll that is driving an estimated one-third of the world’s 1,044 shark species toward extinction. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Sonja Fordham, president of Shark Advocates International, talks about how growing public disgust with shark finning could lead to intensified pressure on governments to take action to reverse the steep decline in shark populations, including setting catch limits on sharks worldwide, requiring sharks to be landed with their fins attached, and seeking protection for threatened sharks under the Conservation on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Read the interview